Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

College(s)

Daily writing prompt
What colleges have you attended?
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  • University of Lowell
    • Fall 1989 to Fall 1991
    • Prior to my last semester (or was it the second to last semester?) the university was absorbed into the University of Massachusetts and changed its name to University of Massachusetts Lowell, or just UMass Lowell
    • Majored in Music with an emphasis in Sound Recording Technology
    • Did not graduate due to dropping out because I didn’t have the math background to get through the Calculus and Physics pre-reqs and didn’t know how to fix the problem so I quit
  • Northeast Broadcast School
    • Not sure exactly but I think it was November 1992 through June 1993… that can’t be right, can it?
    • At some point after graduation the school was bought out or merged or something like that with the Art Institute schools. I don’t know if either of them even exist at all anymore
    • Majored in Audio Recording
    • Graduated with a certificate
  • Middlesex Community College
    • Fall 1997 through Spring 2000
    • Majored in Computer Science
    • Graduated with an Associates degree
  • UMass Lowell (again)
    • Fall 2000 to Spring 2004
    • Majored in Computer Science
    • Graduated with a Bachelors degree, thus ending my seven year run as a career student

Play

Daily writing prompt
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
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So… “Bloganuary.” Okay. I wonder, did someone get paid to come up with that name? I mean… if so, I hope they didn’t get paid much. Whatever. 

Do I play in my daily life. I play guitar. Once in a while I play a video game. I guess the answer is yes then. I guess I can stop writing about today’s writing prompt then, eh?

What says playtime to me? This:

123/366 - January 1st

Honestly it’s a pretty good thing that today’s prompt was uninspiring. It is the first post-holidays work day today and I overslept a bit. Not enough to make me late for work, but enough that I have to hurry through my morning routine. I ran in place (yogged) for 45 minutes and I am eating a little breakfast as I type this. Next up is to shower and shave and then punch into work for the day. It helps that I won’t be spending much time on this post. 

Bloganuary, indeed.

January Music Goals

Right then. It’s 2024. Enough of that crap that was 2023. Let’s get our shit together and make some music. In February I will dive head first back into the RPM Challenge, but until then what am I going to force upon myself to jump start creativity and make me feel like I can be a musician for a few weeks. 

In other words, what are my musical goals for January 2024? There are three.

First and foremost, we are hoping to start auditioning singers for the cover band. My playing is utter shite right now so I need to get into shape. I need to find out what songs we are going to use for the audition and practice the holy hell out of them. They all used to be second nature but that was almost four years ago. I have to make them second nature again.

Second and second most, my 1979 Gibson ES-335 Pro needs to go into the shop. The same shop my Les Paul Custom spent time in a few months ago. I think it needs new frets, and I think it might need a new wiring harness as well. I need to get things going this month so that the guitar will be available for me to use on February’s RPM Challenge album.

Third and third most, it is time to get back to The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, where I take old songs from old writing projects and clean them up, edit them, rewrite where necessary, and then record a slightly higher quality version. This project is also known as Quarantine Tunes. There are six Quarantine Tunes albums on my alonetone page. I told myself that I was stopping at six but then about a year and a half ago I started work on volume seven and also sort of started thinking about volume eight. What can I say, I am a nerd about this stuff. Last night I added two more songs to the volume seven to-do list. I plan to spend January working on volume seven and hopefully finishing it. That should put my brain into a good recording and playing space in time for February. 

I am also slightly overwhelmed by a scary compulsion to go out and buy a new guitar. I need to fight that urge. I want a Les Paul Junior or a Firebird, but I don’t need them. Hopefully playing the shit out of the guitars I already own will calm me down on the online shopping front… hopefully… I think.

So there you go. Practice, get the 335 fixed up, and record. My three musical goals for January.

Bring ’em on.